🔗 Share this article Intensifying War of Words Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Raises Anxieties of Military Confrontation Mounting apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of warfare between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has intensified in recent weeks. Ethiopia and Eritrea were allies in the armed struggle in Tigray but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict. PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected. Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked. Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died. Latest Comments from Ethiopian Government Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the wish to capture it through military means. On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action". Eritrean Answer to the Threats Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory. Government spokespeople alerted on recently that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Movements on the Region So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries. However, in the country, national TV has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases. The head of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies". Past Origins of the Dispute For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers. After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire. Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998. Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads. This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray. However ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.